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Samurai's Song Writings
Disclaimer: This page may contain violence and other mature themes, as well as some heavy topics. I do not sugarcoat my writing. © 2019 Ash Knight (Samurai), all rights reserved. Day 1 | Akira's Victory October 26 | Song: "Victorious" - Skillet He faced the samurai, a man who seemed ten times bigger than he was, and the crowd looked on, their grim curiosity keeping their eyes glued on the impending duel. How would this little boy fare against an elite Angel samurai, a valorous warrior of the Ancient Kingdom? Would he die? Would Hawk Wasp spare him? Would Hawk Wasp stop the duel at first blood? The look in Hawk Wasp's eyes told Akira he wanted much more than first blood, and despite the two being on the same side of the war, there was a lot of suspicion and resentment radiating from his opponent. It was evident that Hawk Wasp doubted his loyalty and his honor, doubted his courage, expected him to turn tail and flee. He thought Akira didn't have what it took to be a samurai. He thought the first duel on his warrior pilgrimage would end in a pool of Akira's blood. He thought wrong. Akira unsheathed his sword, the blade glinting in the sunlight, and he stared back at his opponent with calmness no one had expected him to have. The nervous, fidgety boy from earlier was gone, at least for now, replaced by a warrior as calm as the breeze that graced his skin. The tips of their swords met. Akira held Hawk Wasp's gaze. Hawk Wasp yelled. The first strike flashed towards Akira's neck... And his blade was there to block it. His movements were like water, flowing gracefully and calmly, and every attack was met with his sword. His sword became his shield, and his mind became his sword. He was as fast as river rapids, as strong as a mighty waterfall, as powerful as ocean waves crashing into the shore. He heard nothing, submerged in peaceful water, floating on the breeze like on a river current, and while blood spattered onto the sand, his water remained clear. The duel was over before the crowd could register what was happening, and Hawk Wasp was on his knees in a pool of blood, clutching at his chest. Akira knew that this was where he was supposed to kill him, but he didn't, only smiling and tapping his shoulder with his sword. "Boop," he said sweetly, and Hawk Wasp glowered at him. "Young Miyamoto wins!" one of the samurai onlookers said, and the crowd cheered. Akira was thrown back into his awkwardness and shyness, and he looked at the ground, flattering by the cheering but also quite embarrassed. It went on for a while, and then Hawk Wasp got up and seized him by his collar. "I won't let you humiliate me like this, boy," he hissed in his ear. "This isn't over." He threw him to the ground and took over, blood raining onto the sand as he did so, and when he was no more than a distant speck in the sky, Akira tried to get up. But before he got there, someone from the crowd lifted him to his feet and ruffled his hair. "It was about time someone showed him," the samurai said. "I'm sure your father will be very proud." "Oh, um," Akira said. "Thanks. But he...he doesn't know I-" "Beaten by a six-year-old," another samurai laughed. "I'm never going to let him live that down. Good work, kid!" "No, um..." Akira fidgeted nervously. "Forget about it. If my dad finds out, he-" "AKIRA. MIYAMOTO." Oh. Too late. His father pushed his way out of the crowd, breathing hard, and it was evident he had run here. He must have seen the ads for the duel or heard about it by other means - it had been the talk of the town for days, and Akira had thought he'd have time to fight the duel and that the town would have forgotten about it by the time his father returned from the Southern front. That was clearly not the case. He was still clad in armor, showing that he had only just returned home, and he looked pretty angry. “What were you thinking?” he demanded, towering over him, his black armor gleaming like dragon scales. “I just…” Akira’s eyes went to the ground again, and he became conscious of how small he was. “I wanted to fight someone for real.” “Akira,” his father said sharply, “you could have been killed.” Akira, though still unable to look him in the face, was unfazed – that was what being a samurai was all about, that risk of death, facing it and not fearing it. He said so, and his father replied: “While that is true, you are six years old. You shouldn’t be fighting in bloody duels.” “You should’ve seen it,” one of the samurai from before said. “He whooped Commander Hawk Wasp.” Wrong thing to say. Akira’s father looked very close to killing him. “You challenged a Commander?” “Only because I wanted to be like you,” Akira said quietly, and his father had trouble staying angry after hearing that. He sighed and knelt down to his height. “Come here.” They hugged, and the crowd thought it was sweet. Akira’s father said: “I’m very proud of you. You’re very skilled to have beaten a Commander at such a young age, and you’re very brave. But you have to promise me that you won’t challenge anyone else. No more duels until you’re older.” Akira promised, though he wasn’t too sure it was a promise he could keep. Swordfighting was when he felt the most alive and brave and confident – how could he possibly avoid it? But he knew his father wanted to protect him, and so he agreed. “Let’s get you some lunch,” his father said, picking him up and putting him on his shoulders. They left, and there was more cheering, and Akira waved back at them. They went into a tavern just down the street, and they were welcomed almost immediately, men and women raising their glasses in their direction. “It’s on the house,” the server said before they even ordered, and Akira’s father glanced up at him. “On second thought, maybe fighting that duel was a good idea,” he whispered. “You see how much free stuff you’re getting me?” Akira smiled, and his father ordered two sandwiches, a cup of sake, and some apple juice. They got a table by the window – which the customers there had given up for them – and waited for their food. (to be continued) Day 2 | Hemlock's Freedom October 27 | Song: "Never Going Back" - Skillet Today is my birthday, he wrote,'' or, rather, the day I was created. I was never actually born, and I don't have parents - I'm the product of an experiment, and for years, that was all I was. That was what they kept telling me, day after day.'' "You're an experiment." "Just an experiment." "That's all you'll ever be." I've heard it all, trust me. I know I wasn't worth anything to them, and I'm still not. In fact, I'm not sure I'm worth anything to anyone. Except me. I'm worth something to me. Because in the end, I'm all I've got. If there's anything I learned growing up in that laboratory, growing up with Dr. Ivy, it's that the only man you can really trust is yourself. I suppose you can trust friends - whatever friends are - but I've never had any, so I can't hardly trust them. But I don't need them. As long as I have my strength, my sword, and hemlock for those who wrong me, I'll be fine. And there's one more thing I have too. It's something called freedom, and I've waited a damn long time for it. It never came to me - I had to fight for it. It took a while for the fight to come, for me to find the courage to chase freedom and escape that laboratory, but I did. '' ''And now that I have it, it's not something I'm willing to lose. Day 3: Jaguar's Strength October 28 | Song: "Painkiller" - Three Days Grace Storm! His sister whirled around, surprised at seeing him, and he heard her sheath a dagger. Good. She had done it. Though poison always proved to be a cleaner method of assassination... No matter. They had to get out of here before the body was dis- "LORD SATOSHI!" Crap. On silent feet, the two shinobi dashed towards the window; Jaguar split it open with a knife and leaped out into the night without hesitation, holding Storm tightly against his chest, as much as she hated that. Hold on, he said, and he put on a burst of speed, the sky flying by. And not a moment too soon - the castle erupted with light as the search for Daimyo Satoshi's killers began, and Jaguar just barely made it into the safe embrace of a cloud. Good work, ''he said to Storm, ''but next time, don't wait for me. We got out of there just fine, didn't we?'' she snapped. ''I'm not leaving you behind. I'll catch up. That's what Atasuke said too. Jaguar fell silent, recalling - as he often did - what had happened to their teacher. Spirited, caring Atasuke, ripped away by the Ancient Kingdom... He had been the leader of a plot to assassinate Shogun Ethereal, whoever the man really was, and it had gone horribly wrong. Though the mission consisted of some of the best ninja on Samurath, they had been discovered - the Ancients were waiting for them at their meeting place. They had been attacked, and Atasuke had told Jaguar and Storm to run ahead, to get away, saying that he would be right behind them. He wasn't. He had been executed later that night, never receiving a trial, immediately deemed to have committed a crime worse enough to get him a slow, painful death in the ice chambers. Jaguar and Storm had come to save him, but that too had gone horribly wrong: the Shogun himself had turned up to watch his would-be assassin die, and he threw Storm into the ice chamber - she lost use of her wing, permanently twisted and broken and frozen with cruel frost. And no matter what Jaguar did with his shadows, he couldn't free Atasuke, couldn't save him... He hadn't been strong enough. Atasuke had broken free in one last burst of fire - though it was too late for him, and he had mere seconds before the ice killed him - and he had ensured that they could escape. He'd died fighting, he'd died protecting them, and that was how he would have wanted to die, but... If only Jaguar had been strong enough to save him. And that was why every day, he had to be the strongest. He wasn't going to lose anyone else. They flew on, and neither of them spoke until long after they had cleared the outskirts of the Starsand Desert. The mountains far below were capped with snow, and the wind was cold, the latter prompting Jaguar to say that some hot chocolate would be nice. Only if you spill it on yourself, Storm said. Mean, Jaguar replied. Good. As fast as Jaguar was flying, it was an hour or so before they finally cleared the mountains and their many valleys, which had faded to red as they went further east. Golden plains welcomed them, and Jaguar risked flying lower, swooping over the grass and startling a blur that he presumed to be a herd of gazelles with the giant shadow of his wings. On the horizon was the dark green smudge that was the Great Rainforest, and though they had a while to go, he already felt at home. Storm pointed out a tiger stalking through the grass, and colorful birds, and brilliant wildflowers, and all the wonders of the Gilded Savannah that Jaguar could barely see. He slowed down a bit so she could describe everything to him, and there was so much he wished his eyes could behold. Fastest Angel in the world, and he could hardly see ten feet in front of him. Day 4: Loki's Challenge October 29 | Song: "Without You" - Ashes Remain Akira's entire world was dark, and Loki didn't know what to do. They sat together, hidden safely under the low branches of a pine tree, and Akira hadn't moved for hours. His knees were pulled into his chest, his arms folded over them, and he stared into nothing. That was what the world was to him now - nothing. It was all numb, cold, and empty, and there was no fixing it. Day 5: October 30 | Song: "The Night" - Disturbed Day 6: October 31 | Song: "The Last Goodbye" - Billy Boyd Day 7: November 1 | Song: "So Cold" - Breaking Benjamin Day 8: November 2 | Song: "Zombie" - Bad Wolves Day 9: November 3 | Song: "Emperor's New Clothes" - Jonathan Young Day 10: November 4 | Song: "Rebirthing" - Skillet Day 11: November 5 | Song: "Misty Mountains" - Jonathan Young Day 12: November 6 | Song: "My Heart Will Go On" - Halocene Day 13: November 7 | Song: "This is War" - Thirty Seconds to Mars Day 14: November 8 | Song: "Anchor" - Skillet Day 15: November 9 | Song: "Helena" - My Chemical Romance He was flooded with the feeling of freedom, the weight that had kept him on the bottom of a terrible ocean for so long finally releasing him. The air was clean and pure and free, and the chills of a dying summer welcomed him into the night. Day 16: November 10 | Song: "Red Warrior" - Hans ZimmerCategory:Content (Samurai) Category:Song Writing Challenge Category:Stories